With experience designing for Maison Margiela, Vaquera and Y/Project, Stéphanie D’heygere launched her own brand in 2018 with the idea of “making accessories out of accessories”
- Who is it? The cult accessories label from Stéphanie D’heygere, who also collaborates with the likes of Diesel, Vaquera, and Jean Paul Gaultier
- Why do I want it? Clever, wry jewellery that reimagines everyday objects with a Dadaist sense of subversion
- Where can I find it? D’heygere is available directly through the brand’s website as well as Ssense, Emurj, Dover Street Market New York and Los Angeles, Alsolike, and many others
Who is it? Stéphanie D’heygere studied fashion design at Antwerp’s Royal Academy of Fine Arts, but an unexpected intern placement in the sunglasses department at Lanvin (under Alber Elbaz) made her rethink her path. “My brain started saying ‘accessories this what I need to do!’” she laughs. “At the same time, I thought, ‘I’ve just done four years of fashion design, two years of internships, and what? I’m going to become an accessories designer with zero experience?’” But that’s just what D’heygere did: today, alongside designing for some of the industry’s top names, she runs her own eponymous label, spun from the wonderfully wry idea of “making accessories out of accessories.”
After Lanvin, D’heygere joined Maison Margiela at the call of a friend who said the house was urgently looking for an accessories intern. “And there I met my future boss who told me ‘I’m going to do everything I can to make you stay,” she says. “So I landed my first job there, stayed for four years [as head of jewellery], met Demna, Matthieu Blazy. And when John Galliano arrived, I continued to do freelance design.” Her independent practice soon expanded, leading her to collaborate with Glenn Martens – her former classmate – at Y/Project and later at Diesel.
A stint at Dior as senior jewellery designer confirmed that working at a desk within a big house wasn’t for her, yet as she took on more freelance jobs – with Jacquemus, Courrèges, Jean Paul Gaultier, amongst others – she still felt something missing. “I realised there was something else I wanted to do,” she reflects. “It was this idea of accessorising your accessories – it was too poetic to hand off to someone else. It had to be mine.” In 2018, in tandem with her freelance work, she launched her first line of accessories and jewellery, introducing pieces that quickly became cult favourites – including the now-iconic ‘cigarette holder’ hoop earrings.
Why do I want it? D’heygere’s unconventional path to jewellery design – namely, a lack of institutional training – is precisely what allows her to create her wonderous, out-of-the-box designs. “I think somehow it helps you to think in another way,” she reflects. “I don’t feel blocked by knowledge. I have an idea, and I just try to find a way to make it happen.” With a Dadaist bent à la Marcel Duchamp, she deconstructs, recontextualises, and turns upside down everyday objects – including the very building blocks of jewellery itself – before piecing them back together as playful, wearable subversions. Rings become earrings, chokers are crafted from tessellated earring backs, bracelets linked from necklace clasps, each piece glossed with her signature tongue-in-cheek kitsch.
Her recent Autumn/Winter 2025 collection, Dear Diary, was born from her teenage love for Claire’s Accessories, the beloved jewellery store of adolescent shopping trips. “I’ve been going there forever,” she laughs. “I still go back all the time because I find it inspiring!” Presented in a living tableau during Paris Fashion Week, the collection – at once hyper-feminine (bows, glitter, even a tiara) and minimalistic – was strewn across a vanity table, complete with photos and diary entries from D’heygere’s own youth.
There were oversized lockets, stuffed with photos of Leonardo DiCaprio, from her ongoing collaboration with Vaquera; acrylic nail earrings, created with nail artist Nails by Mei; gloves clipped as scarves, glittery clip-on Bic pens, solitaire rings turned into earrings – all transformed into a lookbook shot by French artist Noémie Ninot, who captured herself in latex masks, embodying characters drawn from haunted adolescent ideals of beauty. Girly, a zine published by Innen Books, collated the visual inspiration for the collection.
Later this year, D’heygere will serve as a judge for accessory design at the International Festival d’Hyères, joining Philip Treacy, Christian Louboutin, and Florence Tétier on the jury for its 40th anniversary edition. After working with Medea, Longchamp, Gentle Monster, and many others, she now has an upcoming collaboration with Jenny Fax and Petra Collins in the works.
As she looks ahead, however, she is toying with the idea of expanding into other disciplines: “For me, jewellery is already an object. I see no reason why I couldn’t apply the same thinking to furniture, books, or other things.” But for D’heygere, it has never been about scale or strategy. “At the end of the day, I want to keep it niche, keep it personal. I just want to keep creating the things that I love.”
Where can I find it? D’heygere is available directly through the brand’s website as well as Ssense, Emurj, Dover Street Market New York and Los Angeles, Alsolike, and many others.
